4 ms·
Is "hold forth" an older or less common phrase? I don't know if I've ever run into it, and I wouldn't have guessed initially that is its definition.
by yladiz 10y ago
Is "hold forth" an older or less common phrase? I don't know if I've ever run into it, and I wouldn't have guessed initially that is its definition.
- FroshKiller 10y agoIt is a bit old. I've seen it in English sources from the 19th century. I think it's common in literature for that period though less common now.
- emodendroket 10y agoWell, judge for yourself. https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=speak+at+length%2Chold+forth&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cspeak%20at%20length%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Chold%20forth%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=speak+at+lengt...
- jamessb 10y agoIt's a phrase that I've usually encountered in the past tense. Google Ngrams shows that in 1800 "held forth" was used about three times as frequently as "hold forth" [1], but this ratio decreased as both uses became less common. [1]: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=held+forth%2Chold+forth&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cheld%20forth%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Chold%20forth%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=held+forth%2Ch...
- emodendroket 10y agoI don't know a lot about the ngram corpus, but assuming there's lots of fiction everything will be skewed toward the past tense.
- FroshKiller 10y agoHere is a new submission that includes a use of "hold forth" as well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13858516 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13858516